Orchestration of String Quartets

[Roehre]

Not sure if anybody has mentioned Walton's Sonata for Strings (arr of his quartet) which I think is quite successful, or some of Richard Tognetti's string orchestra versions of pieces like Janacek's String Quartet No. 1.

I'd certainly agree with Roehre that one of the most interesting is Szell's orchestration of Smetana's From my Life.

To be honest: I knew Walton's Sonata for string orchestra before its original (ASMF on Argo IIRC).
Tognetti is quite active. Apart from Janacek 1 he also arranged Mendelssohn quartets and made a very nice arangement for voice and strings of Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte opus 98. Is broadcast with some regularity on Through the Night.

[Pabmusic]

The Borodin 2nd quartet seems to have been arranged in various ways and doesn't itappearin 'Kismet' ?

Yes - "Stranger in Paradise"* - and Rimsky did a version for violin solo & orchestra.

*[Edit - No it's not; it's And This Is My Beloved. See post 28]

[salymap]

Yes - "Stranger in Paradise" - and Rimsky did a version for violin solo & orchestra.

And Malcolm Sargent had a nice little earner with that movement arranged for string orchestra, published Boosey.

[Sir Velo]

I had!

(The perils of cross-posting!)

Great minds eh? (For one moment I parsed that as the "perils of cross-dressing" but let's not go there. )

[Nick Armstrong]

Great minds eh? (For one moment I parsed that as the "perils of cross-dressing" but let's not go there. )

*PAGING DR. FREUD, PAGING DR. FREUD*

[teamsaint]

*PAGING DR. FREUD, PAGING DR. FREUD*

Popped out to the shops, and things have taken an unexpected turn, really.
Anyway, been meaning to listen to the Brahms/ Schoenberg arrangement for a while, here is a link for anybody too idle to look it up for themselves !!
Thanks for the reminder, chaps.

http://wiltshire.naxosmusiclibrary.com/mediaplayer/flash/http-fplayer.asp?br=64&tl=1457202%7C1457203%7C1457204%7C1457205

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes - "Stranger in Paradise" - and Rimsky did a version for violin solo & orchestra.

From the Polovstian Dances, that particular number. Baubles, Bangles and Beads is from the Scherzo of the Quartet.

And Ron Goodwin used the second theme of the slow movement of the Quartet as his Miss Marple Theme (the films starring Ami! )


Karajan and Verklarte Nacht aside, I prefer chamber Music to be played by solo ensembles. Less is very definitely more for me.

[Nick Armstrong]

And Ron Goodwin used the second theme of the slow movement of the Quartet as his Miss Marple Theme (the films starring Ami! )

Are you serious??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh0C5WMSkig

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Are you serious??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh0C5WMSkig

Yup: pom-pom-pom pa paah, trrrpa paaah, trrrdede pa paah trrr daah. (Bars 49 - 60-ish in slow movement of Borodin.)

[Boilk]

If Barber had not arranged that movement of the early 1936 quartet, his standing might today be considerably reduced, so it was certainly a double-edged sword, for as much as it irked him I'm sure the endless broadcasts and recordings brought in much of his income.

Oddly enough also from 1936, a fugal movement from Hovhaness's Quartet No1 was much later fully orchestrated at the behest of Howard Hanson and first recorded on a Mercury LP in the 1950s. I've heard it on Radio 3 a couple of times, and I prefer this "Prelude and Quadruple Fugue" to the original quartet version.

It's probably blasphemy to say this, but I wouldn't mind hearing some of Tippett's quartets for string (or double string) orchestra! Rhythmically, it would be somewhat fiendish.

[BBMmk2]

I do rather like the last movement of Brahms's PQ in G minor, Rondo alla Zingaresa! One of the most lively movements ever!

thank you ts for that link! I have that on now!

[Nick Armstrong]

I do rather like the last movement of Brahms's PQ in G minor, Rondo alla Zingaresa! One of the most lively movements ever!

It's terrific isn't it? I've only heard it live once, at the Proms in 2007 by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi. I was standing very near the orchestra (I'd slipped across from home just for the second half, I remember) and that last movement was hair-raisingly exciting!

[Pabmusic]

From the Polovstian Dances, that particular number. Baubles, Bangles and Beads is from the Scherzo of the Quartet...

Oh, yes. The Quartet songs are, as you say, Baubles, Bangles & Beads (scherzo) and And This Is My Beloved (notturno). Thanks.

[Bryn]

Something a little out of the ordinary when it comes to orchestral versions of string quartets is the Petr Kotik arrangement of Morton Feldman's last composition, For Samuel Beckett. Feldman's commission stipulated that the string parts should be restricted to a string quartet. Kotik thought the quartet either got swamped by the other sections or has to play rather louder that would be expected for a Feldman composition. Kotik decided to beef up the quartet to a fuller string section. You pays your money ...

[Pabmusic]

I am pretty sure that all or most of this Australian composer's symphonies are arrangements (by him) of string quartets:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphonies-Sacred-Mountain-Melbourne-Lehmann/dp/B000024OVV/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360885231&sr=8-2